Glimpse of Realities
by graceandfire
Summary: Four ways Jim and McCoy could have met, and the one way they did. Please note this runs the gamut from angst to humor, and from gen to SLASH. Rated T for swearing, for references to sex, for having an injured minor and for references to child abuse.


Four Ways Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy Could Have Met...And the One Way They Do

"Someone's moved into the Lennox place," Leonard's mom mentions at supper.

"They have any kids?" Leonard looks up from his meal, distracted from his two week, on-going, internal pep talk to convince himself it's not the end of the world if he asks Jocelyn Evans out and she says no.

"Seems there're two boys. Their father—step-father, actually, as I heard it from Edna—moved them over from Iowa. The mother's in Starfleet and on some deep space mission. But, anyhow, the boys are eight and twelve, and as I heard it from Divia over at the grade school they're quite smart young men based on their school records. Although what their mother is thinking taking herself out to space when she's got two young boys who need her..." Leonard watches as she shakes her head in real dismay while his dad makes agreeing noises.

The thought of Leonard's mom doing something like leaving him and his dad alone to go off into space is completely alien and Leonard feels a moment of sympathy for the two kids before he dismisses them from his thoughts. Because blond haired, sweet smelling, sixteen year old Jocelyn Evans is a damn sight more interesting to think about than two little kids.

The next day he's in the front yard, raking leaves the old fashioned way because his father figures it'll build character. Leonard scowls at his dog, Beau, as the mutt runs through the pile that he just raked. "I will _sell_ you," he threatens. Beau barks in response and runs through the leaves again.

"Nice dog."

Leonard looks up, startled, and meets the tentative, friendly blue eyes of a skinny young kid, who then turns to stare at Beau with a wistful look.

"Yeah, he's a pretty good dog." He scowls down at the mutt who's cheerfully zipping back through the pile of leaves _again_ on the way to saying hello to his new friend. There are leaves scattered back all over the place, not to mention the ones stuck in Beau's fur. "Even if he's about to get a whack with this rake."

"No! Don't punish him. He's really sorry. I can tell." The eyes have gone a little wary now and the hands petting Beau close protectively around him. Beau pants, tail still thumping, and gives the kid's face a friendly swipe of the tongue, entirely unconcerned.

Leonard blinks, frowning. "I wasn't serious kid. I'm not gonna punish a dog for doing what comes natural."

The kid studies him for another wary second and then relaxes. "Okay."

The small, thin frame is almost eclipsed by the boisterous form of Beau and Leonard grins a little at the sight, before turning back with a sigh to finish raking the leaves. He's surprised when, a minute later, the kid gets up and starts shoveling leaves into the bags Leonard has lying on the ground for later.

"Hey kid, you don't need to do that."

"I don't mind." It's almost shyly offered.

"Well," Leonard runs a hand through shaggy dark hair, bemused, and then shrugs, "if you want to." He figures the kid'll get bored in a bit and wander off.

The kid's still there an hour later when they bag up the last of the leaves and debris. Leonard looks across at the sweaty, flushed face. "So my name's Leonard. Len."

"Jimmy." This time the words are offered with beaming blue eyes and a wide flash of white teeth.

"So, Jimmy, you want some lemonade? My mom makes it homemade." Least he can do when the kid's worked up a sweat helping him out.

The smile flashes wider and the eyes fill with delight. "Yeah!"

They hang out over two glasses of lemonade apiece and some filched oatmeal cookies and Len is surprised he's not bored. Jimmy's young but, shit, he's smart. And funny. Kid can hold his own in a conversation and his grin is bright enough to light up the high school stadium. When Len looks at the clock and remarks with surprise that his mom'll be home from her club meeting to start supper soon, he watches the light fade from Jimmy's eyes.

"Oh, I, yeah, I should probably get home too." The kid doesn't move though, staring down into his empty glass.

"You, uh, you wanna stay for dinner?" The invitation just sorta slips out.

The light returns to the kid's eyes in full force as he grins. "_Really_? Can my brother Sam come to supper too?"

Leonard shrugs. "Yeah, sure."

He watches Jimmy scamper off to hunt down his brother and is reminded for an instant of Beau.

Jimmy and his older brother Sam show up for dinner that night and Len looks on in amusement as his mom immediately takes a shine to the two 'practically motherless' boys. She's about adopted them as kin by the time they roll out of the McCoy home with overstuffed bellies and an extra plate full of brownies.

"Y'all come back over anytime you want," she says cheerfully.

"Y'know, if you guys wanna come back tomorrow I can show you around town," Len offers. He'd planned to try to 'accidentally' run into Jocelyn at the pool tomorrow. But, hell, he can do that another time.

The brothers show up the next morning and Leonard shows them all the best spots to hang out. Sam disappears into a baseball game when Leonard introduces him to Billy Rawlings and his gang who are all about Sam's age. But Jimmy sticks with Leonard and somehow he doesn't mind.

After that, the Kirk boys just kind of keep showing up for dinner.

*********************************************************

Leonard is in his third week of residency at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. He's exhausted by the demanding job and grateful for it, because at least he's too busy and tired most of the time to think about how his marriage has fallen apart, and how he's basically ceded the entire fucking state of Georgia to Jocelyn who he wishes he could hate more than he does. He tries to, but he's so tired and sick to his soul he can't really do the job proper, so mostly he's just unhappy and bitter. But Iowa's actually not absolutely horrible, aside from the fucking hellish freezing _cold_. UIHC's one of the top ranked teaching hospitals in the country and it's far enough away from well wishing friends and relatives as long as he avoids the vid-phone, which he does, programming it to refuse all calls originating anywhere south of the Iowa state border. He'll make it up to his parents later.

It's the middle of the night and he's in the middle of his shift in the ER when Nurse Kelley informs him there's a case for him in exam room 7. He enters and immediately wants to go back out and beat the hell out of whoever's responsible for the state of his patient. The kid's a mess, nose broken, bruised all to hell, and he's holding his arm in a way that shouts 'fracture.' But it's his eyes that hit Leonard the hardest. Bright blue and blank, not even a hint of tears, just control that shouldn't exist in someone this young. And then the kid, teenager really, since his messed up face and lanky frame could be anywhere from fourteen to eighteen, smirks up at him and says, "Hey, doc…so I was rocketboarding and I fell. Think I broke my arm."

Leonard raises an eyebrow. "Really? Funny, the bruise on your cheek there looks like it was caused by a fist."

The kid doesn't even blink. "Yeah, I landed on my fist when I fell. I'm clumsy like that."

Leonard just keeps staring and using his raised eyebrow because he's already learned that silence along with a look of disbelief starts most people babbling defensively, especially coming from an authority figure like a doctor. But this kid isn't most people because the smirk just widens into what may be an attempt at an angelic smile. It's hard to tell between the black eye, bruised cheekbone and blood still dripping slowly down from the misshapen nose.

Leonard finally shakes his head and grabs his tricorder, starting his scan. "Whatever, kid. You're a goddamn mess is what you are."

Two hours later, Jim Kirk's arm and nose are set and knitting, his bruises have undergone a session with a dermal regenerator and the cracked rib he hadn't bothered to mention has been fused. Through it all, the kid had kept up a smart, snappy banter that Leonard couldn't help but respond to even as the slow burn in his belly continued to simmer because someone beat this kid into the ground and Leonard wants to find that someone and return the fucking favor with goddamn interest.

Half way through the patch job, Leonard had asked in a casual tone whether Jim's parent or guardian was in the waiting room, but the kid had just given him a canny look. Like the control, it was a look too old for a kid so young. "My mom's off planet, my step-dad vid'd in the authorization for treatment."

Leonard hasn't been able to get anything else out of him.

But it doesn't mean he won't keep trying. As he prescribes some pain killers, he decides the direct approach has the best chance of working. He tries to keep a lid on his temper and his voice calm. "Look Jim, whoever did this to you, we can stop them. _I_ can stop them."

The kid's shrugging back into his clothes, movements stiff and he pauses to give Leonard a long assessing stare. He must pass some test because the kid doesn't bother bringing up the bullshit rocketboarding story again. "Don't worry about it Doc. And do us both a favor and don't bother reporting it. It never sticks and I'm eighteen in three months. Soon as I am, fucker'll never hit me again."

"He shouldn't get away with hitting you _now_." It's a snarl and Leonard knows he should sound supportive or some goddamn shit but it's impossible not to sound pissed with the fury burning a hole in his gut.

Something hard and cold enters Jim Kirk's eyes. "Oh, he won't." Then the grin flashes wide again and it's got a startling amount of power even framed by the bruised and bandaged features. "But thanks for the concern."

Leonard watches the kid start to walk away.

"Hey, kid!"

Jim Kirk turns around, inquiring.

Leonard pauses and then huffs out a frustrated growl. "My full name's Leonard H. McCoy. If you need…something, you can find me through the hospital."

The kid just looks at him for another long, searching moment before the flashy grin relaxes into something quieter and more genuine. "Yeah, okay, I'll…keep that in mind, Leonard H. McCoy."

*********************************************************

Top of his class in med school. Chief resident at the most prestigious teaching hospital in the south. On his way to becoming the youngest chief surgeon ever at Georgia Med.

And Leonard's reduced to taking a position at a penal facility on Xeti IX.

It's about as far down as you can fall, but at least he's still a doctor.

Anger and regret have worn his soul down to a shadow and, still, the memories are too raw. His father's wasted body, riddled with pain and disease, begging for release. Jocelyn's disappointed, and then increasingly disgusted, eyes as she watched him implode. The medical board's ruthless, indifferent handling of the inquiry that left him blackballed from any respectable position. The haze of alcohol he's been hiding in has been the only thing making his free fall from grace survivable, even as it's stripped away the last of Leonard's dignity and the last traces of remaining goodwill from the people around him.

So here he is, fucked up and burnt out and officially disgraced by the time he's thirty-five. So maybe he deserves to be here in this fucked up place, with these fucked up souls who are even worse off than he is. Maybe he doesn't. Doesn't fucking matter, because this is all he has left. If he can't work he might as well put a phaser to his throat and press the button.

"Bring the next one in," he orders gruffly and Nurse Xiang nods, ushering in the next patient. The last doctor this place had employed hadn't deserved the goddamn title. The man hadn't even bothered to keep up with basic physicals and immunizations so Leonard's been playing catch up because he might have fallen to the very bottom rung of his profession but he is still a doctor and he will continue to do his goddamn job to the best of his goddamn abilities.

"Kirk, James Tiberius," he reads off of his data padd, noticing the prisoner's long list of infirmary visits for various injuries from fights with other inmates.

"That's me," comes the cheerful response and Leonard looks up into vivid blue eyes and a good natured grin.

Leonard blinks, taken off guard. Based on Kirk's history of fighting, he'd have expected a dangerous, hulking bruiser with the sullen, angry attitude of most of the prisoners. What he sees is a lean, cheerful man who looks like he should be out driving a motorcycle and doing extreme sports.

"You're Kirk?" he asks, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "You're the…" he looks down to refer back to Rajian's notes "bane of Doctor Rajian's existence?"

"Aww, Doc Rajian _loved_ me." The grin turns into a playful smirk. "I'm a loveable guy."

"Uh huh."

Prisoner Kirk starts removing his orange jumpsuit, barely impeded by the restraints.

"I didn't tell you to take off your clothes." He shoots a startled look at the guard in the corner who just looks back, amused.

"Don't you want to examine me?"

Leonard's impressed at the way Kirk manages to somehow make the statement suggestive without emphasizing a word, all the while wearing an innocent expression that in no way suits him.

"They have tricorders for that sort of thing," Leonard responds dryly, amused by this kid in spite of himself.

The smirk flashes back to a grin. "Aww, what's the fun in that?" But Kirk dutifully re-fastens his jumpsuit and hauls himself up onto the old, barely working biobed that's a damn far cry from the state-of-the-art beds Leonard's used to.

The check-up with Kirk leaves Leonard bemused and feeling oddly…lighter. The prisoner had flirted with him, provoked him—including calling him 'Sawbones', which Leonard hadn't appreciated one damn bit—and surprised him with glimpses of a razor sharp intelligence hiding behind pretty eyes.

No. Not pretty eyes. Prisoners do not have pretty eyes. He has _not _sunk so low.

Two days later Leonard's somehow not surprised at all to meet those cheerful, _'not pretty'_, blue eyes again as Kirk's escorted back into the infirmary.

"A stomach ache? Really?" Leonard shoots him a skeptical glare, ignoring the odd sense of anticipation bubbling through him. "That's the best you could come up with?"

Kirk just grins. "It got me here, didn't it?"

Leonard gives him a hypospray just to be mean.

Seven weeks and twelve hyposprays later, the first successful prison break in the history of penal facility Xeti IX is engineered. Prisoner James Tiberius Kirk escapes, taking with him one hostage, the facility's doctor, Leonard H. McCoy.

Eighteen months later, the doctor's ex-wife, Jocelyn McCoy, successfully has the doctor's status switched from missing to deceased and claims his pension. Three months after that, Jocelyn McCoy's house, boat, and entire savings are mysteriously donated through untraceable, irreversible electronic transactions to the Iowa Foundation for endangered children.

James T. Kirk and Leonard H. McCoy are never heard from again.

They use aliases.

*********************************************************

_"Daddy, you'll never guess who's teaching my class on advanced tactics!"_

Leonard smiles at seeing his baby girl so excited on the vid screen.

"Who, Jo?"

_"It's Captain James Kirk! We've talked and he's _so _nice."_

"Really?" Leonard's impressed because even he's heard of the famous Captain Kirk. And then he frowns, because isn't the captain known for being a womanizer…

"He hasn't, uh, tried anything…?"

_"Daddy."_ This is accompanied by a roll of the eyes, the dramatic flair having been inherited directly from her mother. It sends a pang of longing for Jocelyn through Leonard, even though it's been over a year now since the accident that took her life at the fucking senseless age of forty-three.

_"Captain Kirk has been awesome. He's hardly ever available to teach classes but the Enterprise is in dock for a full retrofit for the next six months. Daddy, the stuff he's seen, the experiences he's had…" _Jo's eyes go a little dreamy on the vid screen. _"He's just…_amazing_."_

All of Leonard's fatherly alarm bells start ringing. His baby girl sounds infatuated with the notorious captain. And so maybe the man _has_ saved earth a few times but that doesn't mean he might not take advantage of his status as a hero to talk a smart, pretty young girl who would normally know better into inappropriate relations.

"Uh, Jo…" he says thinking fast, "I was meaning to tell you, I've been asked to give a speech at Starfleet Medical about the new procedure I developed to treat Mandin's Disease, so I'll be in San Francisco next weekend. I'd _love _to have you show me around campus." _ So I can check out this asshole and __**bury**__ the fucker if he's been improper with you._

There're times when it's a disadvantage that his daughter's a genius. "_Mm hmm. You've already seen the campus. He's a really great guy, Daddy. You'll love him."_

"I don't know what you're talking about Jo."

_"Mm hmm. See you next weekend, Daddy."_

His secretary Nellie lets him know that Starfleet is absolutely thrilled that the famous Doctor Leonard H. McCoy is going to be in town next weekend and would love to have him give a talk at Starfleet medical.

He arrives and gives the hastily assembled presentation to a full house. After the talk, Leonard's ready to escape the last of his admirers and track down Jo when she finds him in the auditorium first. She's not alone.

"Hey, Daddy." She gives him a hug which he returns with interest and then he looks with narrowed eyes at the man who's standing next to his baby girl.

"Daddy, this is Captain James Kirk."

"Call me Jim." The captain gives him a friendly, beaming smile as he offers a hand.

James Tiberius Kirk looks to be in his mid-thirties, clean cut but with a hint of daredevil lurking beneath his regulation hair and uniform. He's ridiculously good looking and every inch the confident captain.

Leonard doesn't like him.

"You always accompany your students to talks?" he asks, not bothering to disguise his suspicion and ignoring the extended hand.

"_Daddy."_

It's a 'do _not _embarrass me' warning and he quickly reassembles his expression into something less hostile as he reaches out and shakes the still extended hand, feeling the warm calloused grip. "Just askin' a question, darlin'."

Kirk's smile widens and Leonard gets the irritated impression the other man's laughing at him. "Cadet McCoy is an amazing young woman. Top student in my class, actually. She talks about you," Kirk shoots an amused glance at Jo, "_all_ the time and when she told me you were going to be on campus giving a lecture, I figured I could witness your genius in person. I've become a real admirer of your…work."

Leonard frowns again, trying to decide if he should be flattered or suspicious—he decides he can be both—and also whether he was imagining what he could swear was innuendo in those last few words.

"Really?" He injects as much skepticism as he can into the word.

"Oh, yeah, really…and, actually, Cadet McCoy mentioned she's busy with a student function tonight…"

Leonard shoots a startled glance at Jo. First he's heard.

"…and since she said you don't really know anyone else in the city, I wanted to offer my services—we could catch some dinner and I could show you around."

Leonard blinks and studies Kirk's friendly, seemingly open face. He can't possibly be…is Kirk _flirting_?

Kirk's expression shows nothing but shining, earnest sincerity. "I'd really love to hear more about the effectiveness of neural implants on the cerebral cortex. And I would _love_ to get your insights into some of the cases we ran into during our five year exploratory mission."

Oh, right. Leonard feels silly, relieved and a little disappointed all at once. Kirk apparently really is a fan of his work. He thinks about the various invitations he's already gotten from doctors, professors, and a few very bold students and opens his mouth to turn the man down, because there's something unsettling about Jim Kirk.

"Yeah, okay." Well, he'll just go and make absolutely sure Kirk doesn't have any designs on his daughter. Although, he's not getting any vibes from the two and their interactions seem reassuringly innocent—thank you, sweet Jesus.

He looks down to search for his hotel information so he can give it to Kirk and completely misses the satisfied smirk that passes over his daughter's face as Captain Kirk looks over at her, eyebrows raised, to mouth an approving '_Wow.'_

Jo lets the smile return as she watches her irritated and baffled father be escorted out by the cheerful and relentless Captain Kirk. The man's smart, dashing, funny, and pretty much all around awesome, not to mention being a stud. And ever since their first conversation, Jo's been convinced the outgoing captain is just the man to pull Daddy out of the depression he's been in since Mama's accident.

Jocelyn McCoy would never have wanted her beloved husband to turn into a recluse. And the best thing is she used to laugh when Captain Kirk first started showing up on the vidcasts, saying with a wicked grin that Kirk was a hottie.

Jo's pretty sure Mama's looking down from heaven right now and laughing again.

************************************************

Since he doesn't want to be thrown up on, Jim figures he'd better distract the restless, irritable, acid tongued Leonard McCoy from the space phobia that's making the man look wild around the eyes. Besides, the guy's willing to share his alcohol, and he's pretty much funny as hell. He's earned a distraction.

Jim leans in close to the man's ear as the shuttle takes off and uses his best 'I'm so sexy' voice. "Tell you what. You make it through this flight without throwing up on me and I'll give you a blow job when we land."

Leonard—okay, Jim can't go through however long his acquaintance with this guy lasts calling him Leonard, he'll have to come up with something better—throws him an incredulous glare.

"Well shit, kid, you have a high opinion of yourself. What makes you think I'd _want_ a goddamn blow job from you?"

"Because, one, we're guys and guys are not picky and, two, I am amazing at anything and everything related to sex."

This earns him an impressive eye roll and Jim spends the rest of the flight telling Leonard—Len…McCoy…Doc…Sawbones?--only slightly exaggerated tales of his past sexual exploits. And, hey, it works because the man doesn't throw up on him.

They're still debating about whether Jim's last story is physically possible when the shuttle makes its landing, smooth as silk. McCoy's so busy arguing, he doesn't even notice. "I'm a doctor kid. No way in hell you coulda done that."

Jim smirks. "Two words: _Double. Jointed_."

He glances out the nearest window and then gives the other man a friendly punch and a grin.

"See, Bones, I knew you could do it." Jim points out the faint outline of buildings.

"Dammit kid," the other man glares, "I already told you not to call me Bones. I hate nicknames."

"Okay," Jim agrees easily. "So do you want the blow job?" He tacks on a silent 'Bones' at the end of the sentence.

The man snorts. "Why the hell not. I deserve _something_ for surviving this death trap."

Jim laughs. He likes this guy.

END

A/N - Hope you enjoyed! I've been wanting to try a 5 things fic for awhile. Of course I didn't quite get there since this is a 4 things :)


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